My first thought was to say Diana Gabaldon, but then I would feel guilty because I still haven’t read her latest Outlander novel. (I’m not a good fan lately!) Also, I met her back in 2007 and, in my starstruck state, couldn’t manage more than “I LOVE YOUR BOOKS I’M SO EXCITED TO MEET YOUUUU!!!” So yeah. Not sure I would do well in an interview with her.

Actually, I think I’d like to interview Anita Shreve because I adore her books and I find her writing style very inspiring. There’s a distinctly dark quality to her novels and I get the sense that she’s gone through a lot of pain in her life. I don’t expect that she would talk about that with a complete stranger, but I would like to hear about her writing process.

I never receive books as gifts–I think the people in my life know that I’m always reading, so they probably have no clue which books I’ve already read or already own! On that note, I don’t give books as gifts (with the exception of knitting pattern books; I’ve given those in the past). It’s just so tough to know what someone already owns and I wouldn’t want them to end up with extra copies.

Interesting question. I think I prefer characters that stay with me long after I’ve finished a book. A book might have a great plot that keeps me reading, but if the characters aren’t memorable, then I pretty much forget about the book once it’s read. Some characters that have stayed with me over time are:

• Charles and Sian from Where or When (so much hate for this on Goodreads, but I don’t care, I adore this book)
• The father and son from The Road (before I read this, I was worried it would be too depressing [even for me], but I’m so glad I read it)
• Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower (I read this pretty recently and loved it, so it’ll be interesting to see how I feel about it after some time has passed).

(Note: with regard to #4, it’s neat that back then I hadn’t read any Stephen King books, and now he is one of my favorite authors!)

10 random facts about you and/or your life:
1. I realize that this is the pot calling the kettle black, but I don’t understand certain fandoms–Doctor Who, Star Wars, and anything involving zombies. Does not compute for me.
2. I am far more snarky inside my head than you will ever know.
3. I cried when Steve Jobs died.
4. Whenever this T-Mobile commercial comes on, I could swear they’re singing, “Walking in an orgy wonderland.”
5. That damn T-Mobile girl annoys me a lot.
6. I am addicted to putting books on hold/borrowing books from the library. Sometimes I go overboard and have to return books unread.
7. I hope to work on reading from my book stash in 2012.
8. My toenails are painted teal right now (Wet ‘n Wild – Teal of Fortune).
9. I probably need a nail polish intervention.
10. I always feel tired.

9 foods you could eat forever:
1. pizza
2. potato chips
3. chocolate
4. ice cream
5. cheese
6. Nutella
7. Krispy Kreme doughnuts
8. McDonald’s cheeseburgers
9. omg, this list is disgusting. I have become so unhealthy again.

8 bands/singers you really love:
1. Foo Fighters
2. Lady Gaga (DON’T HATE)
3. Christina Aguilera (see above)
4. The Black Keys
5. Bon Iver
6. Iron & Wine
7. Adele
8. Dead Man’s Bones (Ryan Gosling!)

7 things you do on a normal day:
1. work
2. check my iPhone eleventy billion times
3. give my dogs belly rubs
4. watch local news
5. read
6. alphabetize something
7. wear makeup

6 fictional characters (tv/movie/book) that you wish you knew:
1. Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2. Melinda from Speak
3. Kathleen from You’ve Got Mail
4. ok, I’m drawing a blank and can only come up with 3.

5 candies/sweets you looove:
1. Hershey’s Cookies & Cream bars
2. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
3. Starbucks Mocha Frapps
4. Other foo-foo coffee like Caramel Macchiatos, hehe
5. birthday cake (this entire list is exactly the same, haha)

4 favorite office supplies:
1. gel pens
2. notebooks
3. Post-It notes
4. notepads

3 favorite drinks:
1. water
2. lemonade
3. lately–orange soda (Fanta!)

2 frivolous (or otherwise) wishes:
1. To win the lottery so I could stay home all day, be a hermit, and read. Or knit. Or…whatever.
2. To have the freedom to drop everything and go on a road trip across the entire U.S.

1 good quote:
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I tend to drift toward depressing literature, which is why I love Anita Shreve and Edith Wharton so much. But sometimes I need a palate cleanser, so to speak, which is why I read so much YA–it’s usually fluffy and light and I don’t have to think too deeply about what it all means.

Also, whenever I’m going through tough things in real life, I tend to seek stories that I can get lost in–paranormal and science fiction usually serve the purpose for me. I just looked back at my Goodreads library to see what I read in August when things were really crazy. My reading was kind of all over the place, but I was just grateful to have an escape.

I think I’m more likely to ‘wallow’ in sadness through movies, rather than books. When I’m feeling down, I’ll watch a sad movie just to get it all out, cry, whatever–but for books, I usually try to take my mind off of reality for a while.

I’m a big fan of romantic books. Or, I guess I should say, romance *in* books. I went through a phase when I was only reading romance novels (you know, the cheesy stuff that Harlequin and Silhouette publish), but I got bored with that pretty quickly. As for romantic books, I have a couple favorites.

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

It’s almost become a stock answer for me to say that Outlander is one of my favorites (and it is), but if we’re talking romance, Voyager definitely delivers. I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s a reason why the first three books in the series are at the top of my list. If you read it, do be sure to have a supply of tissues at hand because you’ll absolutely need them.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did, but it stayed with me for a long time after reading it. I think the story is both beautiful and haunting. I was looking through some of my friends’ reviews on Goodreads and it’s interesting to see the variety of opinions about the book. Some, like me, loved it; others didn’t really connect with the characters or story. At any rate, this is another book that absolutely falls into the Romance category for me. Do yourself a favor–read the book but skip the movie. They did a very sloppy job adapting this story for the screen.

1. What are some hobbies you would like to try, but haven’t done so?
I’d like to try spinning yarn. I bought a drop spindle kit a while back, but haven’t gotten around to using it.

2. Why did you not pursue these hobbies?
Honestly, I’m worried that I’ll really enjoy spinning and I do not need to acquire another stash (roving, spindles, wheels, etc)! Maybe sometime in the future, when I have more disposable income.

3. Do you often feel limited by your financial state with how you spend your free time?
I’d feel way less limited if I didn’t have a full-time job! Think of all the knitting and reading I could get done…sigh. I need to win the lottery.

4. Do your hobbies play a major part of your life, or help define who you are?
I’d say my hobbies are a huge part of my everyday life. I’m always reading or knitting something. Sometimes, I crochet and sew. I’m trying to make photography a more prominent hobby, which is why I’m doing the Year in Pictures project. I think I’d be a much more depressed and stressful person if I didn’t have hobbies.

5. Do you have any hobbies you have made income from?
I ran an Etsy shop several years ago (my sold items are here), where I sold handdyed yarn. It was fun dyeing the yarn, but really time-intensive. I was working at the time, so it became a chore trying to stock and maintain the shop. I also had to make many trips to the post office to mail the yarn. It’s pretty tough to be a one-woman operation! Also, since I kept prices pretty low, I didn’t make much profit on the yarn at all, so it wasn’t a very lucrative endeavor for me.

I’ve had inquiries from people wanting to commission me for knitting projects, but I’ve declined. There’s just too much pressure trying to worry about whether they would like what I knit for them. I’ve also had family members tell me I should try selling my knits, but…well, if you’re a knitter, you understand why I choose not to. I like to knit for myself and occasionally for other people, but I’m just not interested in knitting for pay. I think a lot of the joy of knitting comes from the fact that it’s something I LIKE to do, not something I HAVE to do. I don’t want to lose that feeling.

A little bit of background info: I was born and raised in southeastern Virginia, lived in New Mexico for about 4.5 years, then moved back to Virginia. My parents are originally from the Philippines, which is why I say certain words a different way sometimes (and I elaborate on this in the video). Other than these two states, I’ve never lived anywhere else or traveled outside the U.S.

Would like to say that it’s always really weird hearing my own voice recorded because it sounds so different inside my head.

The words and questions (I got these from bethany actually‘s blog):

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

* What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
* What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
* What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
* What do you call gym shoes?
* What do you say to address a group of people?
* What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
* What do you call your grandparents?
* What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
* What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
* What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

And here’s my video. To view it, enter the password mixedupbeauty. Enjoy!

Southeastern Virginia Dialect & Accent from sassenach on Vimeo.

I’m going to assume this question refers to page count. Without a doubt, the “thickest” book I’ve ever read has to be one of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books. I just checked on Goodreads, and apparently the winner is The Fiery Cross, with a page count of 1,443. (And that’s the mass market edition! Egads. I’m glad I had the trade paperback, which was plenty thick as it is.) Unfortunately, TFC is my least favorite book in the Outlander series. I think it was sorely in need of some good editing. I’m kind of amazed that I actually finished reading it.

1. Blush Of The Day? – NARS Deep Throat. I think makeup names can be ridiculously gimmicky and this is one of them. But “shimmery peach” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, I guess. This is the first NARS blush I bought and I love, love, love it. It’s very flattering without being overpowering; I’ve since bought two other NARS blushes and it’s easy to over-apply those, but I don’t have that issue with DT.

2. Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? – I didn’t make a formal list before New Year’s Day, but I’ve been tossing ideas around internally, so I’m going to write a post about those soon.

3. What makeup purchases have you made since January 1st, if any? – A couple Urban Decay eyeshadows (Stray Dog and Shakedown). Yesterday, I just ordered the elusive UD Naked palette, so that should be here in a few days.

4. How did you celebrate New Year’s Eve? – M and I stayed home (as we do every year). I rang in the New Year on the couch, in my PJs. I alternated between the various TV specials but they were all kind of dumb. We did watch the ball drop, though. After that, I flipped back to some marathon that was on–I think it was either Intervention or The First 48–something really depressing and not really fitting for the celebration!

5. Any Beauty resolutions you think you might want to make this year? – I’ve acquired quite a stash in just several months, so I’m going to work on using up certain products that I own several of (primer, concealer, powder) before trying new brands.